The Department of Economic Security is required to make the Adult Protective Services (APS) registry available to the public online. The Dept is required to maintain a report in the registry for 25 years, increased from 10 years. For the purposes of APS statutes, communications concerning a person who is incarcerated or who is a patient in the Arizona State Hospital are not reports that require evaluation by an APS worker. AS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.

Appropriates the following amounts to the Arizona Board of Regents in FY2017-18 through FY2047-48 from the general fund for the following universities for lease-purchase capital financing for “research infrastructure” (defined) projects: in FY2017-18, $27.2 million for Arizona State University, $10.2 million for Northern Arizona University, and $30.5 million for the University of Arizona; in FY2018-19 and in each FY after through FY2047-48, $29 million for ASU, $10.9 million for NAU, and $32.7 million for UofA. Lease-purchase financing agreements must be entered into before July 1, 2017 and are subject to specified requirements. State construction sales tax monies accruing to the state for these projects are continuously appropriated to each university. For each FY in which projects are financed and under construction, ABOR is required to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature containing specified information about the projects.

The State Senate is authorized to remove a member of the State Board of Education from office at any time by at least a 2/3 vote. When the Senate removes a member of the Board, the Secretary of the Senate must deliver a copy of the resolution of removal to the Secretary of State, who must notify the Governor.

Beginning in the 2016-17 school year, in order to graduate from high school or obtain a high school equivalency diploma, a student must correctly answer at least 60 of the 100 questions listed on a test identical to the civics portion of the naturalization test used by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. School governing boards are authorized to determine the method and manner in which to administer the civics test, and students may retake the test until obtaining a passing score. AS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.

Establishes an 11-member Joint Legislative Study Committee on School District Funding to study and make recommendations to simplify school district funding and school district financial reporting requirements. The Committee is required to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature by December 15, 2015. Self-repeals January 1, 2016.

A pool established by public agencies is permitted to offer services on behalf of pool participants that participate in the unemployment insurance program administered by the Department of Economic Security, including the option to make payments in lieu of contributions. The pool is deemed an agent of the pool participants as employers. AS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.

The State Board of Education is required to adopt a menu of statewide achievement assessments to measure student achievement of the state academic standards. The menu of assessments is required to include norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests. Each assessment adopted by the Board must be a nationally recognized test. Beginning in the 2015-16 school year, the Board must allow each school district and charter school to select the assessment that will be administered to the students in that school district or charter school from the menu of assessments. AS PASSED HOUSE.

Adds one person who is an owner or administrator of a charter school and one lay member to the State Board of Education. The Board is no longer required to employ staff on the recommendation of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Board is required to supervise the duties of its employees if not otherwise prescribed by statute. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is no longer required to direct the work of Board employees, and is instead required to provide information to the Board related to the Board’s powers and duties. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is the executive officer responsible for the execution of policies of the Board, instead of the executive officer of the Board. The Department of Administration, instead of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, approves claims for Board member travel expenses and reimbursement for subsistence. Emergency clause. AS PASSED SENATE.

The State Board of Education is prohibited from adopting and the Department of Education is prohibited from implementing the common core standards, Arizona's college and career ready standards or any other standards or assessments from any third-party provider that are substantially the same as those originating from those standards or any other standards or assessments originating from any third-party provider that are aligned with standards or assessments proposed by the partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers. Any actions that were previously taken to adopt or implement such standards or assessments are void on the effective date of this legislation. Establishes a 13-member Arizona Education Standards Development and Improvement Committee within the Dept and requires the Committee to establish subject area subcommittees. The subcommittees are required to approve or disapprove the academic content standards for that subject area by July 1, 2015. The Committee and subcommittees terminate on July 1, 2023. The Committee is required to adopt and the Board is required to administer the education standards for Arizona’s public schools. The Board is required to provide public notice of any proposed adoption or revision of academic content standards on the Department of Education's website, to request comments on the proposed changes from specified groups, and to hold a public meeting in each congressional district in Arizona before adopting or revising standards. Beginning with the 2015-16 school year, the Board, in collaboration with the Committee, is required to adopt areas of subject matter standards in specified subjects that are subject to legislative review and approval, which must be implemented statewide by every public school. The content of all subject matter standards and corresponding assessments must be approved and controlled solely by the state through the Board, in collaboration with the Committee. By the 2018-19 school year, the Board is required to direct the process of developing annual high-quality statewide student assessments for specified subjects that align with the new subject matter standards. The statewide student assessments must continue to use the standards that were in place on May 31, 2010 until the replacement assessments are implemented. The Board is prohibited from adopting or revising any Arizona education standards in specified subject areas until the proposed standards or revisions are approved by both the Legislature and the appropriate subcommittee of the Committee. The Legislature is required to adopt legislation to approve the standards, disapprove the standards in whole or in part, amend the standards in whole or in part, or disapprove the standards in whole or in part with corresponding instructions to the Board. If the Legislature fails to adopt legislation within 30 days after the opening day of the legislative session after the Board submits the standards for approval, the standards are deemed approved. Additionally, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Board and the Dept are prohibited from spending any monies on a statewide longitudinal data system designed to track students or compile personally identifiable student information, sharing any personally identifiable student or teacher information with any entity outside Arizona or any entity that intends to use the information to develop commercial products or services, and sharing any personally identifiable student or teacher information with the U.S. Department of Education except if a list of specified conditions are met. AS PASSED HOUSE.

A parent, on behalf of that parent’s child, may opt out of the statewide assessments prescribed by statute. The State Board of Education is required to make available a form for parents to sign and submit to the school in order to opt their children out. If a parent opts out of the assessments, the lack of results for that child cannot be factored into the school or district achievement profile classification or the information contained on the school report card. For students who have opted out, the school district or charter school must use an alternative to determine whether a 3rd grade student’s reading ability is sufficient to promote the student from the 3rd grade and to determine whether the student has satisfied that portion of the high school graduation requirements. Does not apply to the civics portion of the naturalization test required for high school graduation. AS PASSED HOUSE.

First sponsor: Rep. Ackerley Others: Rep. Finchem, Rep. Leach

General Comments (all lists):

January 30, 2015: Public Affairs approves OPPOSE position

January 26, 2015: WR Recommends OPPOSE Position

4/1Senate voted to reconsider 3/31 failure to pass bill and FAILED to pass on reconsideration 15-15.

Students in 9th grade who are enrolled in courses offered by a Joint Technical Education District (JTED)or career and technical education courses may be included in a joint district's student count and average daily membership, and may be funded in whole or in part with monies provided by a JTED.

For the purpose of empowerment scholarship accounts (ESA), the definition of "qualified student" is expanded to include a child who is the sibling of a first-time ESA recipient and a child who has attended a program for preschool children with disabilities for fewer than 100 days. Previous ESA recipients are not qualified for an ESA if the student’s parent has forfeited participation in the program for failure to comply with statutory requirements. The list of expenses for which ESA money may be used is expanded to include registration fees, library fees, student transfer fees, laboratory fees, late enrollment fees, textbooks required by a qualified school and tuition for “vocational and life skills education” (defined) provided by an instructor who is accredited by a state regional or national accrediting organization. The Department of Education is required to issue a contract to eligible ESA applicants within 45 days after receipt of a completed application and all required documentation, subject to the enrollment cap prescribed by law. The Dept is required to develop minimum criteria for the approval of purchases made with ESA monies, and to prominently post on its website a list of approved providers based on the minimum adopted criteria. Also establishes an 11-member ESA Special Education Study Committee to research and evaluate specified information relating to the ESA program and special education services. The Committee is required to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature by December 31, 2015 and self-repeals October 1, 2016. AS PASSED SENATE.

Beginning January 1, 2016, the Department of Revenue is required to annually report to the Governor and the Legislature specified information on corporate tax credits for any corporation that claims aggregate credits in any taxable year of $5,000 or more. The Dept is authorized to disclose confidential taxpayer information for this purpose.

The first day of instruction for each school year cannot begin earlier than the first Monday of September and the last day of instruction cannot be later than June 30, except as may be otherwise authorized by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to accommodate year-round school operation, an educational program offered on the basis of a four-day school week or an alternative kindergarten program offered on the basis of a three-day school week.

It is not considered misconduct involving weapons to carry a deadly weapon at a public establishment or event if the person possesses a valid concealed weapons permit. Does not apply to public establishments or events that have security personnel and electronic weapons screening devices and that require each person carrying a deadly weapon to leave it in possession of the security personnel while the person is in the establishment or event. Does not apply to the licensed premises of any public establishment or event with a liquor license, to an educational institution or community college district or state university, or to facilities operated by the Arizona State Hospital or a special health care district. AS PASSED HOUSE.

For a person who forfeits all right to workers’ compensation because of knowingly making a false statement, a class 6 (lowest) felony, that forfeiture does not terminate on any subsequent designation of the offense as a misdemeanor. A claimant for workers’ compensation is required to personally sign any monthly or annual income status report that requests the claimant to report employment status or earnings to the insurance carrier or self-insured employer. The reporting document must contain a statement that is in a specified form, which includes a statement that knowingly making a false statement to obtain compensation, benefits or payments is a class 6 felony and is subject to prison, fines, and forfeiture of benefits. AS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.

A complaint of unfair workers’ compensation claim processing or bad faith must be filed with the Industrial Commission within 60 days after the action or omission alleged as the basis of the complaint occurred. For cases where the Commission finds that unfair claim processing or bad faith occurred, new benefit penalty amounts are established and are based on the specific findings of the claim. In determining the amount of the benefit penalty, the Commission is required to consider the extent of the proven harm to the employee and various other factors. The benefit penalty is the employee’s exclusive remedy for unfair claim processing or bad faith, with some exceptions. The process by which an employer or carrier that is ordered to pay a benefit penalty must pay the penalty is established. The maximum civil penalty the Commission may impose for an employer or carrier with a history or pattern of repeated unfair claim processing practices or bad faith is increased to $5,000, from $1,000.

Workers’ compensation carriers and self-insured employers providing workers’ compensation benefits are added to the list of entities that are not required to reimburse a person for costs associated with the medical use of marijuana. Due to voter protection, this bill required the affirmative vote of at least 3/4 of each house of the Legislature for passage. AS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.

When an initial claim for unemployment benefits is filed, the Department of Economic Security is required to promptly notify the claimant’s most recent employer of the claim filing, and the notice must contain the claimant’s stated reason for separation from employment and state that the employer may protest payment to the claimant by returning the protest no later than 10 business days after the date of the notice. AS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.

Each school district in Arizona is required to be a unified school district by July 1, 2018. The school district governing board of each district that is not a unified district on the effective date of this legislation is required to develop a transition plan within 90 days after the effective date.

The list of liquor licensees exempt from statutory restrictions on licensed premises being near school or church buildings is expanded to include a grocery store that contains at least 4,500 square feet of retail space, that derives less than 50 percent of its gross revenue from the sale of spirituous liquor and that offers fresh produce for sale. AS PASSED HOUSE.

Various changes relating to funding for the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) and public universities. By October 1 of each year, ABOR is required to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on all tuition revenues received by each university that details the expenditure of all tuition revenues for the prior fiscal year. ABOR is required to annually adopt a performance-based funding model to use in preparing its annual budget request, and the Legislature must use the model to determine the annual increase to the base level of general fund support to the universities. Requirements for the model are specified.

The State Board of Education is prohibited from implementing the common core standards, Arizona's college and career ready standards or any other standards or assessments that are developed outside Arizona. The Board is prohibited from adopting or revising standards in a manner that would effectively implement the common core standards, Arizona's college and career ready standards or any other standards or assessments that are developed outside Arizona. Any rules that were previously adopted and that conflict with this prohibition are void on the effective date of this legislation.

School districts and charter schools that offer kindergarten instruction are required, instead of allowed, to offer full-day kindergarten instruction. Conditionally enacted on the lawsuit Cave Creek USD v. Ducey being resolved through either final adjudication or the execution of a binding settlement. Contains a legislative intent section.

The state of Arizona adopts and agrees to be bound by a uniform firearms transfer compact, which prohibits member states from enacting or enforcing any law, regulation or policy that would “impose any fee, tax, penalty, mandate or regulation governing, punishing, restricting, conditioning or otherwise burdening in any respect or at any time the transfer of firearms by any person” in addition to then-existing federal law. Some exceptions. Any law, regulation or policy existing on the effective date of this compact which is in conflict with this prohibition is repealed and held for naught to the extent of the conflict. Provides for construction, enforcement, withdrawal from and severability of the compact. AS PASSED HOUSE.

Statute prohibiting agreements denying employment because of nonmembership in labor organizations is repealed. Conditionally enacted on the state Constitution being amended by the voters at the 2016 general election to repeal the right to work or employment without membership in labor organizations.

The governing board of a Joint Technical Education District (JTED) is authorized to contract with any charter school located within the boundaries of the JTED to allow that charter school to offer career and technical education courses or programs as a satellite campus. AS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.

School districts and charter schools are required to provide CPR training for students during 7th or 8th grade, instead of being permitted to provide it for each student in grades 7-12. Requirements for CPR training in schools are modified. School districts and charter schools are authorized to use paramedics, police officers and any other similarly qualified persons to provide CPR training.

School districts, charter schools or private providers are authorized to establish and operate a High Quality School Readiness Program that includes specified components. Program requirements are established. Establishes a School Readiness Fund and an 8-member School Readiness Board in the Governor's Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting to administer the Fund. Monies in the Fund must be used for school readiness grants and to fund results-based school-readiness contracts for eligible students to participate in specified programs. Grant qualifications are established. The Program terminates on July 1, 2025 and the Board terminates on July 1, 2023. More.

Beginning in the 2016-17 school year, in order to graduate from high school or obtain a general equivalency diploma, a student must correctly answer at least 60 of the 100 questions listed on a test identical to the civics portion of the naturalization test used by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. School governing boards are authorized to determine the method and manner in which to administer the civics test, and students may retake the test until obtaining a passing score.

All community college districts or groups of districts are permitted to sponsor charter schools, instead of only districts with enrollment of more than 15,000 full-time equivalent students or a group of districts with combined enrollment of more than 15,000 full-time equivalent students.

Appropriates the following amounts to the Arizona Board of Regents in FY2017-18 through FY2047-48 from the general fund for the following universities for lease-purchase capital financing for “research infrastructure” (defined) projects: in FY2017-18, $27.2 million for Arizona State University, $10.2 million for Northern Arizona University, and $30.5 million for the University of Arizona; in FY2018-19 and in each FY after through FY2047-48, $29 million for ASU, $10.9 million for NAU, and $32.7 million for UofA. Lease-purchase financing agreements must be entered into before July 1, 2017 and are subject to specified requirements. State construction sales tax monies accruing to the state for these projects are continuously appropriated to each university. For each FY in which projects are financed and under construction, ABOR is required to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature containing specified information about the projects.

School districts and charter schools that offer kindergarten instruction are required, instead of allowed, to offer full-day kindergarten instruction. Conditionally enacted on the lawsuit Cave Creek USD v. Ducey being resolved through either final adjudication or the execution of a binding settlement. Contains a legislative intent section.

Students are not required to obtain a passing score on a standardized test during the 2014-15 through the 2017-18 school years in order to graduate from high school. Does not apply to the requirement to pass the civics portion of the naturalization test. Emergency clause. AS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.

The Department of Education is prohibited from assigning schools or school districts letter grade classifications for school years 2014-15 and 2015-16 in order for the Department of Education to develop and implement a revised accountability system for schools and school districts, subject to the approval of the Board of Education. Other transitional provisions are specified. The Board is required to report to the Governor and the Legislature by December 15, 2015 with proposed legislation to implement the revised accountability system for schools and school districts. A student's score on a statewide assessment cannot be used as a factor in determining the student's letter grade in any particular course in school years 2014-15 and 2015-16. Retroactive to July 1, 2014. AS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR. In his signing message, the Governor urged the Board of Education to set the bar high, look to best practices in other states, and use the transition period wisely. He stated that parents should continue to have access to school performance indicators and that once complete, the A-F system should be simple for parents to understand and have clear expectations of quality for schools to follow.

Establishes a 12-member Arizona Continuous Improvement Academic Standards Committee in the Department of Education to hold public meetings and seek public input in the education standards in Arizona, review academic standards and related education issues, and make recommendations to the State Board of Education for changes to the academic standards. The Board is required to hold a public roll call vote on each standard recommended by the Committee. The Committee ends on July 1, 2023.

The Department of Economic Security is required to establish a return to work program to provide a supervised training opportunity to individuals for 20 to 32 hours per week for up to 6 weeks through employers that volunteer to participate in the program. Individuals participating in the program continue to receive unemployment compensation. Establishes requirements for employers and individuals participating in the program. The Dept is prohibited from spending monies on the program unless authorized by legislative appropriation. The program ends July 1, 2025.

Base period employers with one employee are exempt from reimbursing the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund for unemployment insurance benefits paid or payable to a claimant if the employer provides sufficient information to establish that the claimant voluntarily terminated employment with the employer. The employer must provide the information to the Department of Economic Security within 10 days after receipt of a benefit charge notice from the Dept or mailing of notice by the Dept that the individual has filed a claim for benefits. AS PASSED SENATE.

Arizona State University is designated “the Arizona Public Enterprise University” (defined) and the Arizona Board of Regents is authorized to modify the governing structure of ASU to reestablish it as an autonomous, quasi-public, nonprofit corporate entity. ASU is authorized to establish its own personnel system and its own health insurance plan for employees.

The State Board of Education is required to prescribe a separate personal finance course for the graduation of students from high school and to develop or adopt an existing method of measuring proficiency in the course requirement. Information that must be included in the course is specified. Statute allowing school boards and charter schools to prescribe a separate personal finance course is deleted. AS PASSED SENATE.

For the purposes of workers' compensation regulations, the definition of "personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment" is expanded to include "post-traumatic stress disorder" (defined) that is due to causes and conditions characteristic of and peculiar to a particular trade, occupation, process or employment.

Each school district and charter school governing board (school board) is required to adopt its own academic standards, which must meet or exceed the standards adopted by the State Board of Education for use during or after the 1998-99 school year. School boards are required to submit the standards to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for approval, and the Superintendent must approve the standards if they meet or exceed the standards adopted by the Board for use during or after the 1998-99 school year. School boards are also required to adopt an "instrument to measure standards" test, and this test replaces the AIMS test in statute. The Department of Education is required to post on their website a list containing at least four nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement tests that may be adopted by school boards.

The list of reasons a school district or charter school governing board is permitted to promote a student from the 3rd grade whose reading falls far below the 3rd grade level is expanded to include that the student is in the process of a special education referral or evaluation for placement in special education or that the student has been diagnosed as having a significant reading impairment, including "dyslexia" (defined). The State Board of Education is required to adopt rules to allow certificated teachers and administrators to count training regarding screening, intervention, accommodation, use of technology and advocacy for students with reading impairments, including dyslexia, as continuing education credits. AS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.

Establishes the Arizona Course Success Accounts Program within the Department of Education. The Dept is required to implement a comprehensive application for course providers that includes specified information and to develop a selection process with emphasis on specified factors. Requirements for accepted course providers are established. The Dept is authorized to select up to 1,000 applicants to receive course success accounts each fiscal year. To enroll as student for a course success account, the student's parents are required to sign an agreement to use the course success account in specified subjects and only for a list of permitted expenses of that student. In exchange for the parent's agreement, the Dept is required to transfer from the monies that would otherwise be allocated to the student's prior school district to the State Treasurer for deposit into a course success account an amount equivalent to 15 percent of the sum of the base support level. The Program terminates on July 1, 2025.